The present invention relates to a new and improved construction of a locking device for the locking of electrical units, particularly electronic units, which include at least one unit frame and are constructed so as to be slidably inserted into a mounting rack.
Such units, in practice, also called "parts" are generally collected together in large numbers in multi-stage racks, there being provided within the individual stages mutually adjacent receptacles into each of which a unit may be slid. The rack stages are usually formed by horizontally extending rack rails arranged at the front of the rack.
A heretofore usual manner of locking a unit, which itself generally consists of a front panel with frames - the unit frames - fastened behind it, has been by means of a fastening element engaging the unit, usually laterally or at its end, or by means of connecting elements that, on the one hand, engage the front panel of the unit and, on the other hand, engage the rack, e.g. on a rack rail.
In the first-mentioned kind of locking means not only is the accessibility of the locking device limited but also space for the insertion of elements, such as printed circuit boards and the like, into the unit is lacking. The second kind of locking means makes it necessary for the front panel to have a relatively great strength, which is undesirable for this member because of the increasing use of cheap plastics materials.